Like Father, Like Son
by SwordofallCreation
Summary: What once was, passed down and learned. My submission for the "Lessons Learned" Back to School contest.


My first kill was on the battlefield of a war.

 _My first kill was my father._

The war was one fought between legends. I was forced to end a hero's life, return their spirit to rest to protect both myself and my friends.

 _My father had corrupted an entire island, doomed the inhabitants to a non-life none should live, all for the sake of his research. He would escape and repeat the same experiments elsewhere, making more blights against humanity. I had to end it._

Skills I could barely use, weapons I could hardly wield, they were all nothing but my tools. In the hands of others, they may have become legends, heroes maybe, but for me it was nothing but the path following an empty dream.

 _The gun felt so right in my small hands. I fired until my savior stopped me, unable to turn myself away from the task of ridding the earth of that threat._

My dream? I took up the hopes and ideals of another on a moonlit night with his dying breath affirming my decision. I put myself on the road to be a hero.

 _I honestly couldn't call myself anything more than a murderer. The gun slipped into my hand as if it was a part of me I had long lost, and pulling the trigger on the target was the simplest thing to do in the world. Yet, Natalia saved me again, and told me that perhaps by killing all of the evil in the world, I could make this world a better place._

I trained every day to make myself stronger, to reach my goal of becoming a hero. I worked with what little magecraft I had. To cannibalize my nerves day in and day out to work on a skill that I could barely even hope to begin to improve in.

 _Natalia trained me, taught me how to kill. Whether by shooting down a target from afar, poisoning their meal, or destroying their home with C4, all were acceptable methods to taking the target out. The most important thing I learned from my time with her was to be ruthless, that by killing a target with an explosive, the lives saved from the death of that one piece of scum would outweigh the lives of the other innocents who would be caught up in the explosion as well._

Yet I still persevered, kept myself on this futile road and never gave up.

 _The number of people I had to kill became too much. I could no longer remember the names of those I had killed and hurt to improve this world. I could no longer even count them._

Never once did I falter in my attempts to achieve an impossible goal.

 _I thought I would lose sight of my purpose in Irisviel, but instead seeing her and Illya smile have ensured that I will stay on this path of bloodshed for a peaceful world._

I wal _ke_ d m _an_ y _batt_ lefields, _co_ v _er_ ed in _bl_ ood _wh_ il _e_ wis _hing_ fo _r_ pe _a_ ce.

I fought. I saved so many lives, but I wished for a different way to be possible.

 _I killed my own mother, because we both accepted there was no other way to keep the world safe._

I once grew far too close to the brink of death.

 _I received an offer from the Einzberns._

I _wa_ s gi _ven_ a _n_ op _por_ tunity. _Offe_ red _a c_ ontr _act._

 _I_ accepted.

I regret that moment most of all, above all things in my life. That moment where I sold my soul to save the lives of another hundred.

 _I lived with my decision. Every mission I complete with efficiency so I can see Iri and Illya again._

I was betrayed by the people I gave up my eternal peace for. I died a lone man who tried to save the scared and fearful.

 _I received the brand from the Holy Grail, a true wish-granting device._

I killed so many, that I grew tired and simply wished to stop.

 _I killed so many, but I could not yet stop._

I knew not what I could do.

 _I understood at long last how to achieve my dream._

A tug. Creating a copy of myself in order to participate in yet another Holy Grail War.

 _The summoning proceeded smoothly, and the servant, as of now unidentified, appeared in the circle._

I opened my eyes as the smoke cleared, and unbidden memories of the man under the full moon returned.

 _His white hair and tanned skin are quite strange. It seems as though I have not summoned King Arthur, so who could this Servant be?_

I see. So this is my fate here. Very well. I understand.

"Art thou my master?"

" _Yes."_

Fina _ll_ y, _m_ y ch _ance_ to _cha_ ng _e_ th _e_ fu _tu_ r _e_ h _as_ _co_ me.

This time, I know. I must-

 _Win the Holy Grail War, Servant Archer._


End file.
